Judgment Day at Judges' Table

Get your Quickfire scorecards ready! Top Chef is back for an all-new fifth season, coming at you from the culinary capital of the world, New York City. As every New York chef knows, critics eat chefs for breakfast. For this no-holds-barred season, guest judges include the legendary Martha Stewart, culinary icon Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and a few wild cards. Here are a few of our predictions for how the judging may play out.

Martha Stewart

Domestic goddess and encyclopedic cook Martha Stewart was a bit tame when she appeared as a judge on last season's The Next Food Network Star. Let's face it: The Next Food Network Star is for sissies. This is Top Chef, the cooking competition of all cooking competitions. Stewart's expectations should be much higher for Top Chef, which means she will scrutinize every sauce, every stock, and every slice as only she can. You better watch out, and you most certainly better not cry because there is no crying in Top Chef.

Jean-Christophe Novelli

Who is Jean-Christophe Novelli? Despite knowing about every chef in this city, I asked myself the same question. Turns out Novelli is at the top of his game in another culinary wonderland, London. But a little digging uncovered the truth behind this random pick. This summer, Novelli closed a deal for his own Bravo series, tentatively titled The Jean-Christophe Novelli Project. The show (airdate to be announced) chronicles the opening of Novelli's Los Angeles-based cooking school. Seems like the cheftestants are not the only ones being judged.

Eric Ripert

The suave and oh-so-French Eric Ripert is back for another season of Top Chef. On camera and off, Ripert is even-keeled, patient, and mentoring. But just because you have a soft exterior doesn't mean you're not meticulous. This world-class chef's haute French restaurant, Le Bernardin, is on the short list of four-star New York Times eateries. There are unconfirmed rumors (though Tom Colicchio did not deny them) that the cheftestants were unleashed on Ripert's exquisite and exclusive kitchen, where seafood is on the menu. Clean knife skills and detailed presentation will certainly stand out in the eyes of this perfectionist.

Rocco DiSpirito

The Biggest Loser chef and Dancing with the Stars castoff Rocco DiSpirito is everywhere this year. Love him or hate him, his chef fame is well deserved. DiSpirito was on the opening team of the famed Lespinasse and former chef at Union Pacific, which also received rave reviews during his tenure. Besides qualifying as a judge for rising to his own chefdom in New York City, he also kicked off the judging for Top Chef Chicago with the deep-dish pizza delivery challenge. Mmmm. Can we expect Rocco to judge the season opener? What iconic New York food will the chefs prepare? Bagels? Hot dogs? We'll have to wait and see.

Natasha Richardson

This one is a curveball. Veteran actress and resident New Yorker (and, more importantly, wife of Liam Neeson) Natasha Richardson is on the top judge roster. Unlike most Hollywood couples, Richardson and Neeson live a low-key life on New York's residential Upper West Side, which is known as a foodie neighborhood for its endless gastronomic shopping. Could it be that Richardson is a great home cook? We're not sure of the connection here, but whatever it is, we're sure it will be juicy.

Wylie Dufresne

Young chefs flock to Chef Wylie Dufresne's restaurant, WD-50, to marvel at all the bizarre concoctions from the sideburn-sporting chef, whose kitchen also serves as a laboratory. Unusual for New York, his kitchen is roughly double the size of the restaurant dining room. Inside the lab, the shelves are lined with powders whose names are as hard to pronounce as any ingredient on a package of store-bought cookies. An innovator in experimental cuisine, Dufresne pushes the culinary boundaries. Surely he won't want to see the same old plates from this Top Chef class.

Jean-Georges Vongerichten

Perhaps one of New York's most accomplished toques, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's name is synonymous with global cuisine. His eight U.S. restaurants' menus feature flavor profiles from Japan to China to France. The eponymous Jean Georges, the jewel in his restaurant crown, received a coveted four stars from the New York Times in 2006. That equates to "extraordinary", a rank held by only five of New York's more than 18,000 restaurants. Pretty phenomenal. It will be tough to pull the wool over Chef Vongerichten when it comes to Asian food. So we wouldn't be surprised if the chefs were sent to Chinatown to make an upscale meal for Vongerichten with just $5 in hand and no translator.

Anthony Bourdain

What would a Top Chef season be without guest judge Anthony Bourdain? New York is his backyard! Surprisingly, Bourdain was not on Bravo's press release as a returning judge for season five. How can he not be on the show? My prediction is that the chefs will be cooking with Bourdain in his old stomping ground, Les Halles.

Toby Young

This year Bravo decided to make Judges' Table a little more like American Idol by adding British-born Toby Young. Have you heard of him? Probably not. But you probably have heard of the new movie How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, a semiexaggerated biopic about Young, who became infamous for getting fired from every job he ever had. So what makes this Oxford-educated Brit qualified to critique our beloved cheftestants? First, he wrote restaurant reviews for This Is London. Second, he competed in Come Dine with Me, a top U.K. show where celebs see who can throw the best dinner party. And last but not least, he already sits at another judges' table across the pond for Eating with the Enemy. Sounds like the contestants may need to add a layer of body armor to their chef's jackets.

Tom Colicchio

Often considered the voice of reason in the Top Chef kitchen, head judge Tom Colicchio finally hosts the cheftestants in his hometown. Colicchio has a zillion ways to test the chefs at his upscale restaurants, Craft and Craftsteak, or at 'wichcraft, his popular gourmet sandwich spin-off. You can be certain there will be plenty of Craft product placement and the potential for a grand-slam challenge inside one of Tom Colicchio's kitchens.